Is there a way to get dtruehd and dts master audio running thru your pc?

[ss10zidane]

i have a bluray drive in my hp pc, it plays dolby 5.1 and dts 5.1 but is there anything i can get so it can have dtrue hd and dts hd? im running the DVD Play BD & HD DVD program to play blus. help needed!

[ss10zidane]

Originally Posted by ss10zidane

i have a bluray drive in my hp pc, it plays dolby 5.1 and dts 5.1 but is there anything i can get so it can have dtrue hd and dts hd? im running the DVD Play BD & HD DVD program to play blus. help needed!

and my pc has hdmi out so im running that thru my receiver that decodes dtruehd and dts masteraudio

[efesbe]

Good question. I would love an answer for this as well. I do have PowerDVD that decodes (or so it says) the HD audio but I don't have an hdmi port on my pc. Will DVI with an adapter for HDMI transfer audio or does it have to be an actual HDMI port off your PC?

[-Sandro-]

No cause DVI can't transfer audio, do you have SPDIF?

[efesbe]

Yeah I'm sure spdif can be used for sound but I am interested in transferring the DTS-HD MA or TrueHD.

I am aware that only HDMI has this capability but since I don't have that option, I was wondering since my video card has DVI ouputs, would an adapter to a HDMI cable work? I'm assuming it wont.

[-Sandro-]

You're right SPFI can't carry those codes. Neither can DVI via an HDMI adaptor I'm afraid since the source counts here, and the source (DVI) can't carry audio.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by ss10zidane

and my pc has hdmi out so im running that thru my receiver that decodes dtruehd and dts masteraudio

First the answer is yes. Although you don't have HDMI you can indeed get it through the analog audio outs of your PC (if you have a 7.1 or 5.1 audio card) Just buy several 1/8 jack to Stereo RCA cables (4 if you have 7.1 - 3 if you have 5.1). Connect the coresponding 1/8 jacks to the computer and the stereo RCA's to their coresponding jacks on the multi-in on your receiver. You're computer decodes the codecs via software and sends the decoded audio out LPCM (like the PS3). If you desire to bitstream - you can get the Xonar HDAV 1.3 card - its rather expensive but it does work and the bugs are finally out of it. Or you can buy a ATI 4XXX series video card with HDMI - it will also send DTSHD MA and TrueHD over as LPCM to the receiver (just don't have a yamaha receiver ). If you do have a Yamaha - I recommend a 8200/8300 (AMD) or 9300/9400 (Intel) chipset motherboard with onboard hdmi - I have this solution and it works perfect - no problems at all - just make sure you install the Nvidia HDMI audio driver. Of all the methods I've described, the first method is the simplest one. Enjoy

[tlmaclennan]

Yea, I'm using the first method that prerich mentioned. I have the 1/8 jack to Stereo RCA cables going from my Realtek HD audio controller to my analog inputs on my receiver.

My only problem with this is that I cannot change listening modes on my receiver (Onkyo 605). I would like to be able to change it for various reasons but I can't. I will probably eventually get the Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 card to bitstream to my receiver.

[-Sandro-]

How can you send DTHD or DTS HD MA trough HDMI decoded in PCM with PC?

[goracer]

Your tv will only understand 2 channel PCM so you would have to go to a receiver then to your tv. Uncheck Dolby in the speaker settings HDMI tab. Allthough I have a 9300 video chipset and I get no audio through HDMI at all.

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by -Sandro-

You're right SPFI can't carry those codes. Neither can DVI via an HDMI adaptor I'm afraid since the source counts here, and the source (DVI) can't carry audio.

Not technically, some video cards such as my 4870 can pass audio through the DVI to the HDMI adapter thats included with it

[VismundCygnus]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

Not technically, some video cards such as my 4870 can pass audio through the DVI to the HDMI adapter thats included with it

precisely. my current htpc setup utilizes a 4850 for just that purpose. i have one dvi>hdmi adapter with one hdmi cable going to my yamaha 663, which does my audio decoding as well as passes through the 1080p video signal. even when i use foobar to playback 5.1 24 bit 96khz rips of music, the 663 identifies the audio as such and is quite flawless most of the time. so in short, yes...you VERY much can send audio over dvi, you just need the right equipment. hell, dvi and hdmi are both made by the same company.

as for the OP's question, i believe it has much to do with the whole PAP/PAVP bs going on. blu-ray is great for what it is, but it seems like its excessive copy protection is keeping it from being a much more enjoyable experience. if you want true bitstreaming of your dts-hd master audio track, look into the Asus Xonar sound card. afaik, it's one of the only ways to do that on a pc. i have to just accept power dvd's multi channel pcm output to my receiver as the best i can get right now. ;]

[prerich]

Originally Posted by -Sandro-

How can you send DTHD or DTS HD MA trough HDMI decoded in PCM with PC?

TMT, PowerDvd, and WinDVD 9 Plus Bluray - decodes the TrueHD or DTS HD MA signal in software and converts it to LPCM - and sends it out via your video card's HDMI to your receiver. Your video card must be 8.1/5.1 LPCM capable. You can bitstream with the Xonar HDAV1.3 card and let the receiver do the decoding instead of the PC software. What people fail to realize is, regardless if you bitstream or not, eventually your signal is converted to LPCM and then to an analog form for use by your amplifier and speakers - its got to be decoded somewhere. I've been doing this for quite a while now. As a matter of fact - I actually upconvert the audio via Windows Vista (my receiver reads that I'm receiving a 192khz/24 bit signal, which happens to be my upconversion settings in my computer - everythings a-ok) .

[prerich]

Originally Posted by goracer

Your tv will only understand 2 channel PCM so you would have to go to a receiver then to your tv. Uncheck Dolby in the speaker settings HDMI tab. Allthough I have a 9300 video chipset and I get no audio through HDMI at all.

Have you downloaded the latest HDMI driver? Initially when I got my 9300 I had that problem until I found that driver (found it the next day) PM me and I'll get it to you !!!! What's your set up?

[-Sandro-]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

Not technically, some video cards such as my 4870 can pass audio through the DVI to the HDMI adapter thats included with it

How is that possible?

[tlmaclennan]

The DVI you use is DVI-D or DVI-I, that is digital only or digital/analog combo, respectively. It doesn't use all the pins that the DVI connector allows. I'm assuming that the ATI video cards have female DVI connectors that have the DVI-D / DVI-I pins as well as the unused pins. The unused ones are used for the audio. The DVI/HDMI adpater is also special with these unused pins. they are connected to the corresponding HDMI pins so that you can have video and audio through HDMI.

What I don't understand is how you are able to get full LPCM with the ATI cards. Don't they use a SPDIF cable to connect to your audio card? I thought that you couldn't us SPDIF for LPCM, DTS-HD MA, or Dolby TrueHD.

[SpoonMaN]

nope, they have an onboard realtek audio chip that does all of the work.
as of the 9x00 cards nvidia uses a spdif connector to get audio through their dvi-hdmi adaptors but ati has no need for the spdif adaptor. however its not some highend x-fi card it is more like the onboard chips used on most motherboards. still it does work rather well

[tlmaclennan]

So with the nVidia cards, how does that work? Using SPDIF doesn't make sense so I feel I'm missing something.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by tlmaclennan

So with the nVidia cards, how does that work? Using SPDIF doesn't make sense so I feel I'm missing something.

My nvidia is onboard (9300 nforce board) it can pass 8 channel LPCM like the ATI 4XXX series cards (no routing from the spdif). If you have a Yamaha receiver - Nvidia 9300/9400 (intel) or 8200/8300 (amd) are the best way to go - you don't need the special DVI translator dongle that ATI users need to get the audio on Yamaha receiver. The Nvidia component cards can't do 8 channel LPCM...yet. The ATI 4xxx series cards can. It's just great!

[tlmaclennan]

I'm personally waiting for the Asus Xonar HDAV Slim card. But it's good to know about all the options!